1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to organometallic intercalation compounds.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Organometallic intercalation compounds are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,980,684. The intercalation compounds are layered structures of metal dichalcogenides and metallocenes. The materials are disclosed as suitable for diffracting soft X-rays with wavelengths as long as about 20 A.
Organometallic "sandwich" compounds are characterized as those having structures in which a metal ion is situated between two parallel planar carbocyclic 5, 6 or 7 membered rings, the two rings being either the same or different. The metals in such organometallic compounds typically exhibit electropositive characteristics, easily losing an electron to form the corresponding cationic species. The ease of oxidation can be conveniently judged by comparison of the experimentally measured ionization potentials. Some typical organometallic sandwich compounds and corresponding first ionization potentials are listed below:
TABLE I ______________________________________ Organometallic Compound First Ionization Potential, eV ______________________________________ Cr(C.sub.6 H.sub.6).sub.2 5.4 Cr(C.sub.5 H.sub.5).sub.2 5.5 Ti(C.sub.6 H.sub.6).sub.2 5.5 Mo(C.sub.6 H.sub.6).sub.2 5.52 Co(C.sub.5 H.sub.5).sub.2 5.56 Ti(C.sub.5 H.sub.5)(C.sub.7 H.sub.7) 5.67 Mo(C.sub.5 H.sub.5)(C.sub.7 H.sub.7) 5.87 Nb(C.sub.7 H.sub.7)(C.sub.5 H.sub.5) 5.98 Mn[C.sub.5 H.sub.4 (CH.sub.3)].sub.2 6.01 Ni(C.sub.5 H.sub.5).sub.2 6.2 Mn(C.sub.5 H.sub.5)(C.sub.6 H.sub.6) 6.36 Mn(C.sub.5 H.sub.5).sub.2 6.55 Fe(C.sub.5 H.sub.5).sub.2 6.88 Zr(C.sub.5 H.sub.5)(C.sub.7 H.sub.7) 6.94 Ru(C.sub.5 H.sub.5).sub.2 7.45 ______________________________________
Layered metal chalcogenohalides are oxidants; that is, they readily accept electrons and therefore react readily with electropositive species such as alkali metals, simultaneously oxidizing them and intercalating them (inserting the metal ion between layers). The intercalation of layered metal oxyhalides with Group IA, IB, IIA, IIB and IIIA metals is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,049,887.